Re: looking for equipment
the yamaha suggestion would be a good all around piece. if you're for some reason unhappy with the xbase (which from a polyphony perspective, i understand) and you want a dedicated drum source look at a drumstation. but i'd also echo the software argument and instead tell you to look at battery... get one of those akai 16 pad midi drum controller things if the tactileness is a big issue for you, or a x0x style sequencer to midi up to your software for drum programming. you could probably use the mc505 for this.
hardware synths you might want to look at the Virus line. waldorf makes great stuff as well; you could get a huge amount of mileage out of a Q (which also includes some very nice drum maps). a Q rack could keep you busy for a long time.
worst case, just ask YT for her opinion.